Ice and Snow, Mind and Heart

Chapter 27: Jakotsu and Suikotsu

The group had travelled away from the mountain, but even though they'd moved quite away, the purifying energy had barely dissipated. Yuki frowned thoughtfully while Rin gasped: "Look at the size of the valley!"

"I still feel terrible." Jaken groaned, swaying on his feet and looking as though he wanted to vomit, though A-Un had recovered enough to be carrying the human child once more.

Yuki glanced at Sesshomaru, before she sidled closer to say worriedly, but softly so that Rin and Jaken wouldn't hear: "The purifying aura extends as far away as this."

"Hn." He answered in affirmative, his eyes also narrowed with thought.

Sesshomaru bent his knees slightly, and Yuki sighed as he leapt from the cliff they'd been perched upon before she jumped after him. She winced as the purifying effects of the aura touched her, but otherwise ignored it as she grabbed onto Sesshomaru's furry train.

He pulled her closer, extending his own power over her to lessen the purifying aura's effects on her. She sighed in relief before nodding at him in thanks, while Jaken cried after them: "Ah, Lord Sesshomaru! Yuki?!"

"After them, A-Un!" Rin called, and the dragon took off after his lord and the half-demoness.

"Hold on, Rin!" Jaken cried. "Don't leave me behind!"

A-Un's tail whipped back in answer, and Jaken yelped before he grabbed on. He then cried as he held onto A-Un's tail for dear life, yelling at Rin: "Slow this thing down, won't you? I don't want to fall off! AH!"

Jaken wailed as the purifying aura took effect, causing painful spasms and electric shocks to run through him, and Rin shouted: "Stop making such a fuss, Master Jaken!"

"Ow! Ah! I can't help it! OW!" Jaken cried, and Rin retorted: "You're so annoying!"

"Ah! I can't take this!" Jaken yelped as they flew deeper into the valley.

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Yuki frowned as she looked up at the sky while Jaken and Sesshomaru examined a creaky wooden bridge, linking their path from one mountain cliff to another.

Rin was playing with her foot on the earth, while occasionally peeking over the side of the cliff and down to the river that Yuki had informed her earlier was flowing far below. It was hidden through the heavy fog, but the demons could hear the faint sounds of the river rapids so Rin took their word on it without question.

Sesshomaru was restless, trying to find a better bearing for his search, and Yuki was not being very helpful. Not that it was really her fault.

Suddenly, Sesshomaru turned to stare back at the forest behind them.

"They're coming." He stated as he stared to the side, and his companions turned to look at him in surprise.

"They?" Yuki questioned, while Jaken simply asked: "Huh?"

Sesshomaru took off without answering, and Yuki sighed in exasperation while Jaken cried: "Wait, Lord Sesshomaru."

"As if he ever does." Yuki muttered, before glancing back up at the sky uneasily.

She turned sharply as she heard a whizzing sound coming from the trees, just before a strange blur came flying out of the forest and at Sesshomaru.

He reacted instantly, blocking the attack with his Tokijin, and Yuki frowned as she saw that the blur was a strange zig-zag of blades, connected together in an almost whip-like fashion.

The blades clinked as they were thrown back from Sesshomaru's block, and Yuki moved to cover Rin as the girl gasped: "What is that?"

Jaken was also staring in a mix of shock and awe, and they watched as the blades retracted before falling with a final clink to their original sword as the weapon's owner, a strange humanoid figure, rose up out of the bushes.